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[Strider03]

"<Fine by me, meet up here I guess? Oh, and can I get your number, in case anything comes up?>" This seemed like it would be rather enjoyable.

[Empiricist]

Shef
He nods, sliding another piece of paper over to you.

[Strider03]

After parting ways with Ignis, Shef headed back into the restaurant, first to see if he could ask a few questions to the maitre d', mostly regarding the spicing in what he'd just eaten, details on where he could pick up similar in the market, names, etc.

Following that, he headed to the restroom, with the intent to fully check his person for bugs, both physical, and to the best of his abilities, curse based. As an additional precaution, he activated his compulsion on the two pieces of paper he'd recieved from Ignis. The man's constructs had been susceptible, so if these were a trap, hopefully that would be revealed. Anything found would be flushed down the toilet together in one batch.

Finally, Shef reactivated his illusion, and portalled to the outside of the building to head to get a train to his next stop, on alert for an ambush.

[Powder Miner]

"<...mind-reading attack? What happened? You said that you were in a fight...?>"
Faith suspiciously flicked her glance over to the other girl -- this was a LOT, whatever was going on, and she was beginning to suspect that, well... the more she asked, the more she'd find out.

[Twinwolf]

"<Oh, she was part of another group of trainees I think? But she's actually nice, she brought me here for ice cream. But yeah, Maria, did you see anything about last night in that earlier one?>"

[Empiricist]

Shef
You part ways with Ignis, the man dissolving in with the crowds as you talk to the maitre d', the guy rattling off a list of spices and preparation methods. "<Though if you're planning on cooking back home, you'll need a guide. Earth doesn't have any ambient spirit energy, so most of those won't work normally, and a few will break down. Most cases I -think- you need to add a spirit to battery system to it and keep it charged, I'm not an expert though. You want me to check with the Chef? Guy likes picking his own ingredients, think he won't mind giving you a rundown if you tag along.>"
Huh, guess cooking will be a little more complicated.

Anyways, as you enter the restrooms and begin your check you know that something has gone horribly horribly wrong. Adrenaline floods your body. Your heartbeat hammers in your chest, in your ears, as the world seems to spin, seems to slowly darken. You're having a bit of trouble drawing breath. You feel a bit dizzy, unsteady on your feet, cold sweat running down your back.

Motherfucker. He poisoned you. How though? You've had your eyes on your food the whole time, and it arrived before he got back his pass, as far as you can tell anyways. Was there some sort of payload in it? Triggered remotely so it'd only kick in when he set it off? That's, not strictly allowed... Maybe it was the paper itself? He did want you to take the fake vial before and you did suspect the paper may be the same. The flashbang spewed blue flames before, and he was that flashbang. Was he the paper now? Could he use more than just flames?

Faith and Yuki
Maria seems to physically recoil from Faith's glance, though she looks considerably more agitated by Yuki's prompt for that matter. "<S-sorry no, that was an attack spell, it only uses negative experiences... I could try using something else to find out what happened though...>"

[Strider03]

Shef stumbled into a stall.

Clearly, he'd been poisoned. It'd been on his mind since Ignis had mentioned that plan, though apparently that'd done nothing to prevent it. Either the poison would be sufficient to activate the first blood condition, or it wouldn't be. In the former case, not much he could really do. In the latter, Ignis would need to do something to get that condition. On the chance that he had to finish the job personally, Shef, trembling, pulled one of the drones he'd purchased earlier, piloting it into a position where it could view the entrance of the bathroom from the outside. A crude method of surveillance that he could detonate if need be.

Next step, on the off chance that it was something in the food, and there was any more poison that had not been taken into his blood stream, the man pulled up his shirt, leaned over, and opened a hole directly into the middle of his stomach, letting the contents pour out into the toilet.

Finally, he'd drop the two pieces of paper on the ground, and requiem them, to determine whether they were the source of the affliction or not. Of course he'd keep an eye on the camera feed from the drone. He'd need a new plan if nothing happened with any of this though.

[Empiricist]

Shef
Stall entered. Drone deployed. Stomach emptied. You still feel like shit, but you doubt this will be enough to fulfil the condition. You can still fight at the very least. You take out the pieces of paper and the second one, the one with his number on it burns with bright blue flames in your hands, flames that are now trying to blowtorch into your face.

Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)

Shef
Status: Somewhat hurt, disoriented, weakened, poisoned, 10 cached portals
World Line: 1 6 4 4 6 1 4 6 4 6
Alterations: 5
Resolve: 2

Ignis
Details: Location unknown, blasting Shef with fire from the piece of paper
Status: Fine

Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)

Basically all of your defensive capabilities save for the portals are pretty damn useful for resisting this poison. Hence why you feel like shit but you're still standing and able to act albeit with a bit of impairment.

[Strider03]

Of course, he should have known. To be fair, he had known, just not acted on it soon enough, not taken the precautions soon enough. For now, he'd just pop a portal open in the wall, and blast the piece of paper out.

Expulser lite to blast the paper out of a portal hole in the wall. Try no to cause too much property damage. Send out another drone out the hole, to keep an eye outside.
[1+2] [6] 4 4 6 1 4 6 4 6

[Empiricist]

Shef

Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)

Shef: 3

Ignis: 5, Hyper[4]

[Now Playing:

The Old Boy

]

Fire erupts from the paper and you let go, conjuring your Regalia and firing. You don't aim anywhere in particular. No need to. Portal does all the work. Should've anyways. Bullet hits the paper. Expulser expands. Problem - there's something else here. Or Rather, someone else. Something between you and the detonating expulser. Or more accurately, someone. Paper goes out through the portal, and riding the expulser blast, Ignis drives his burning elbow right into your chest.

Okay, so that fucking hurt. Also you're now stuck in a bathroom stall with what appears to be a close quarters specialist who is now going for a sweep and strike combo.

...and who just dropped a grenade in his wake. Again, in this cramped-ass stall.

Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)

Shef
Status: Quite hurt, disoriented, weakened, poisoned, staggered, 10 cached portals
World Line: 6 4 4 6 1 4 6 4 6 4
Alterations: 3.5
Resolve: 2

Ignis
Details: Possibly in the stall, going for a leg sweep and series of strikes. Dropping a grenade.
Status: Fine

Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)

Your assumptions were sound, the issue however is that Ignis could deploy more projections from the paper, and he has fairly high Close Quarters.

[Strider03]

There was one small consolation for Shef as he found the wind knocked out of him. He was pretty certain he knew Ignis's primary ability now, and some of it's limitations. Projections had to be spawned from an existing projection and, more importantly, any one of the projections could be the "real" Ignis at a given moment. It fit with the ability to transfer the intricate magical structure of the dueling bracelets, and with the smoke grenade trick from earlier.

Speak of grenades, this was probably another of that. A spawned clone, disguised as a grenade, or created in some stealthy way disguised by the dropping of the grenade, to turn this into a two on one. Shef, leaning heavily against the wall of the stall, decided he was not having that. As before, he began to layer the enchantments of an expulser round, soon letting the magical machinery take over the work of making new layers, and when it was complete, he detonated it at his chest. Portal behind him, he'd try to blast himself into the main area of the restaurant, a bit outside the hall to the bathroom.

Maybe, just maybe, Ignis would be a little hesitant about property damage inside the actual establishment.

Expulser between self and Ignis and his grenade. Portal behind into body of restaurant, do not let Ignis come through the portal. If there is a moment, make certain Igniz didn't plant anything when making his jab.
[6] 4 4 6 [1+2] 4 6 4 6 4

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Minato just....stares at the Bodhisattva's remains.

He wasn't exactly traumatised- after all, he'd been doing this for years at this point and this guy was training him, not trying to kill him-, but most of the fights he'd been in, for a long while, hadn't exactly involved his opponent being hit by a truck and pancaked, then resurrecting as the bastard son of Son Goku and Budai, as the opener. And most of them also didn't involve Minato starting the fight in a maid costume and ending it looking like some gaudy gokudon out of a video game.

He still wasn't sure how that last one happened. Tsukasa was going to need to do some explaining. Minato closes his eyes and rests against a surface where he can take a breather.
"Man....I'm starting to understand a little bit of what Faith's seeing about the Awakened world. That was.....a crazy last couple of minutes."

[Empiricist]

Shef

Spoiler: Rolls (click to show/hide)

Shef: 6, Hyper[3]

Ignis: 4

[Now Playing:

The Old Boy

]

He kicks your legs out from under you and strikes you in the jaw. Expulser goes off. Then the grenade. You blast out into the restaraunt proper, kidding to a halt. As your portal closes you catch a glimpse of the bathroom's interior, protected by reinforcement magic as an explosion engulfs it, Ignis dissipating in the blast. Motherfucker, that was an actual grenade. Well, you feel like shit, you're kinda hurt, but you haven't lost just yet. Ignis might not be too keen on coming in right now. Maybe. If that's the case then well uh... well shit. You could try picking him off from outside but he's probably disguised again. Still you could probably contact Sakurako, get her or Yuki over, back you up. Guy hasn't been too keen to fight two on one. Maybe the poison and beatings rendered will change that. Still, seems like a fine enough bet.

A voice interrupts your thoughts.

"<Well, I suppose we could use some excitement... System Override.>"

A matrix of lines expands outwards as the manager invokes her administrative pass, darkness punctuated with gridlines overlaying over the walls. This'll complicate things. Some of the store owners and whatnot have administrative passes, meaning they get to dictate the rules of engagement within their premise if they so please. Change win conditions, add restrictions, and your bracelet interface has just lit up with her new ruleset: Do not hit staff or patrons. Do not magically influence staff or patrons. Do not damage the restaurant. Do not break anything. Do not spill food or drink. Penalty: Instant Forfeit.

Well, that's a thing.

A couple walks in through the door. Patrons or Ignis in disguise? It's hard to tell.

Spoiler: World Lines (click to show/hide)

Shef
Status: Very hurt, disoriented, weakened, poisoned, staggered, 10 cached portals
World Line: 4 4 6 4 6 4 6 4 4 6
Alterations: 2
Resolve: 2

Ignis
Details: Location unknown
Status: Fine

Spoiler: Special Rules (click to show/hide)

• Do not hit staff or patrons.
  
• Do not magically influence staff or patrons.
  
• Do not damage the restaurant.
  
• Do not break anything.
  
• Do not spill food or drink.
  

Spoiler: Notes (click to show/hide)

[Strider03]

"<Oh good, he's not allowed to break my jaw then. Doesn't specify that I can't throw patrons either, might want to mention that.>" Shef coughed out.

He pulled himself up, grabbed one of the provided potions from his backpack, and downed it, before stumbling his way to the least occupied portion of the restaurant. Not that it would be that empty, but he'd try to get to the best spot he could before the inevitable assault.

When he'd found a spot, Shef pulled out one of his phones, and tried to call Yuki. If anyone could deal with the poison, it'd be her.

[Empiricist]

Shef
"<If you want to order I'll be fine with shooting him myself. As for throwing... I've always believed more in the spirit of the law.>"